


Part of the Tribe

by PattRose



Category: The Sentinel
Genre: Angst, Bigotry & Prejudice, Friendship, Hatred, M/M, The N word
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-06
Updated: 2015-08-06
Packaged: 2018-04-12 01:36:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4460273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PattRose/pseuds/PattRose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jim overhears some things at the station that don’t have to do with him and Blair for a change.  Somehow this doesn’t make him feel any better about things.</p><p>I had numerous people ask what Jim was going to do, so I added a section and wrote what I thought he would do.  I hope the ending is a little more satisfying.  Although, it's hard to be satisfied when there are bigots with big mouths involved.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Part of the Tribe

Part of the Tribe  
By PattRose  
Summary: Jim overhears some things at the station that don’t have to do with him and Blair for a change. Somehow this doesn’t make him feel any better about things.

[ ](http://s71.photobucket.com/user/PattRose1/media/partofthetribecover_zpsiotbjvfs.jpg.html)

Jim was having an exceptionally bad day. It all started with him and Blair having an argument right before Jim had to be in court. Blair always seemed to know when to start an argument that Jim could never win. But today, neither had won. They both left the house, angry as hell. Jim then had to sit in the courtroom all day long waiting to be called and then the stupid idiot copped a plea bargain at the last minute. _There is six hours of my life I’ll never get back._

On the way to the station, Jim had called Blair and Blair wasn’t answering his phone. To be fair, Blair was probably in the middle of teaching a class and couldn’t answer. But Jim wasn’t feeling fair that day at all. In fact, quite the opposite. It was all over something so stupid. Carolyn was coming into town and asked Jim to have dinner with her. Blair asked if he could go along and Jim had told him that he thought it would just be Carolyn and him. Nothing against Sandburg, but Carolyn wasn’t that wild about him. As far as she was concerned, Blair was the one that ruined Jim’s good name at the station. Blair got mad that Jim wouldn’t ask him along and it went to hell from there. Jim got the impression that Blair was thinking about telling Jim he couldn’t go. Jim would have to tell Blair to go fuck himself if he did. Thankfully, Blair hadn’t asked, but instead stopped talking to Jim all together unless it was to have another argument. Why did Blair still feel so insecure about him being around Carolyn? They were just friends for crying out loud. 

When Jim got to the station he was about ready to bust so decided he better stop at the restroom on the first floor and then head to Major Crimes. He went into a stall and was sitting there minding his own business when five officers walked into the bathroom and started talking. 

“Do you believe that nigger has the gall to think he can boss us around? The day I ever listen to a nigger will be the last day I’m a cop. You know the only reason they made him a captain was because he **was** a nigger. They didn’t have any and they needed to put one in place. Thank God none of us work in Major Crimes. They have niggers all over the place. Honestly, I don’t know how Rafe and Ellison can stand it,” the first voice said. 

“I keep wishing that we could do something to his house. I looked up the address and we could do something to let him know he’s not that welcome at this station,” the second voice said. 

“I hate nigger’s worse than anything. We shouldn’t have to deal with them if we don’t want to. The only thing nigger’s are good for is sports and being criminals.”

“Too bad it’s against the law to do anything to them. What I would give to see a KKK clan gang up on them some day. That would make my heart feel so much better.”

They all laughed about that thought and continued talking about Simon, Joel and Henri. 

Jim stood up and flushed the toilet and heard nothing but silence. He walked out glaring at all of them and washed his hands. Not one of them said a word to Jim. They totally ignored him being there all together. Jim walked out the door, but not soon enough. He heard, “Jesus, now we got fags coming in our clean restrooms. First it’s niggers, then it’s fags. We can’t win.”

Jim got on the elevator and forgot all about his argument with Blair. He couldn’t believe that those five officers hated Simon that much. He understood them hating him because after all, everyone thought Jim had a choice in being gay or not. But Simon had no choice. Those fuckers were horrible. Jim was going to make sure that none of them did anything to Simon, Joel or Henri. Jim was suddenly so depressed that he could hardly think straight. 

When he got off the elevator, Blair was sitting next to Jim’s desk. It looked like he was waiting for Jim. He wasn’t doing anything, he was just sitting there.

Jim walked up and said, “Hello, Chief.”

Blair smiled and said, “Hello, Jim. Are you in a better mood this afternoon?”

“Not really. I’ve had a day from hell and I don’t want to talk about it.”

Blair looked over at Jim and saw the sadness on his face and wondered what happened in the course of an afternoon. “Are you all right, Jim?”

“I’m fine. Just disappointed in certain people.”

“Me?” Blair asked. 

“This has nothing to do with us, Blair. I was hit in the face with bigotry today and I didn’t even know what to do or say.”

“About us being gay? Or was it because I’m Jewish?”

Jim looked shocked. “Someone has given you a hard time because you’re Jewish?”

“All the time, Jim. It’s part of life. Anything people don’t understand, scares them and makes them hateful. So if it wasn’t us or me being Jewish, I take it, it was about Simon being black?”

Jim got closer to Blair and answered, “We’ll talk about it later.”

“Interrogation room two is open, I would like to talk to you.” Blair stood up and walked away without waiting for a reply. 

Jim wasn’t really in the mood, but he followed, anyway. When he walked in Blair was sitting at the table. Jim shut the door so they had privacy. 

“I was in a stall in the restroom on the first floor. There were five of them. They were full of hate for Joel, Henri and especially Simon. Because Simon only got the job of Captain because they needed to have a black man as a superior somewhere. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have a job.”

“What did you say to them when you walked out of the stall?” Blair asked. 

“I just glared at them and washed my hands. What could I say? They’re fucking bigots and you can’t argue with a bigot. I know this from experience. Then as I was leaving they were talking about how I dirtied their clean bathroom. They were all quite disgusted.”

Blair didn’t say anything for a while and then asked, “Do you think they would ever hurt Simon?”

“I think they’re just idiots. I don’t think they’re smart enough to do anything about anyone.” Jim started pacing and ran his hand through his thinning hair. 

“Jim, is this the first time you’ve ever had to deal with this?”

“Chief, I’m used to hearing all the shit about us every single day. But this is the first time I’ve ever heard such hateful things about Simon, Joel and Henri. I don’t even like discussing this too much because it makes me want to scream.”

Blair got up from the table and gently rubbed Jim’s back. “Did you know any of them?”

“I knew all of them. I’ve heard them talking about you and me, many times, but not Simon. This was all new to me and I didn’t like it one bit.”

“That’s because Simon, Joel and Henri are all part of your tribe.”

“What?” Jim almost shouted. 

“You see Major Crimes as your tribe. You look after all of us and we’re part of your tribe. This is a good thing, Jim. Believe me, we’re lucky to be in your tribe. I wouldn’t want anyone else looking out for us other than you.”

“I guess, I can see that,” Jim agreed. 

“Jim, you need to talk to Simon about this. In case those jerks ever try to hurt Simon, we need him to be on the look-out.”

“Blair, I’m not telling Simon about this. I think he would be devastated. It’s more than a person needs to know,” Jim said, softly. 

“You promise to watch them and be sure that they won’t hurt any of us?” Blair asked. 

“I promise. No one will hurt you or anyone else in my tribe. You all mean the world to me. I would be lost without any of you.”

“Thanks, man. That was really nice of you to say.”

“Blair, about this morning, I’m really sorry I shouted at you and argued with you. It seems so trivial now. You’re the most important thing in the world to me. No one should get in our way of happiness. Right?”

“Right. I’m sorry I was making such a fuss about Carolyn. I’m just jealous.”

“Chief, you’re going to go with me tonight. She might not like it, but that’s too bad. We’re a package deal.”

Blair hugged Jim very quickly and then stepped back. Blair knew the rules. No kissing or hugging while in the bullpen. 

“I’ve got a good idea, Jim. Let’s ask all of the guys to join us for dinner tonight with Carolyn. What do you think of that idea?”

“That’s a great idea, Blair. I’ll ask as soon as we finish here.”

“Jim, try not to look so depressed or Simon will know it’s something else. Try to remain upbeat. We need to stand behind them every chance we get.”

“Agreed. Now, let’s get out of here. I’ll ask everyone to Claim Jumper at 7:00. That’s when we’re meeting Carolyn. I’ll call ahead and make reservations for all of us. She’s not expecting the entire crew. It’s tough if she doesn’t like it. When it comes to the tribe, you take all of us or none of us right, Chief?”

“Right. Keep the smile on your face, man. They’ll never know the truth.”

“Thank God for that,” Jim said sadly and walked out into the bullpen to invite everyone to dinner. He put on his best game face and never let on at all. 

Jim wished that everyone would keep their opinions to themselves so that he didn’t have to hear all of this hateful nonsense. But life wasn’t like that. And Jim was going to make sure that Simon never found out about any of this. 

*

After Jim invited everyone to dinner, he excused himself and went to the elevator. He motioned for Blair to join him. Blair did without asking where they were going. They got on the elevator and went up and Blair wondered what was going on. 

They got off the elevator and Jim walked in to Internal Affairs without saying a word to Blair. There was a cop there that knew Jim and asked, “What can I do for you Ellison? Someone giving you a hard time about being gay?”

He had not sounded hateful, in fact he sounded helpful, Blair noticed. 

Jim smiled and said, “No thank you, Williams. I’m here to report five people from traffic that have big mouths and are fucking bigots.”

“And it’s not about you? So they went after Sandburg for being Jewish?” Williams asked. 

“No, it’s not about Blair. Let me tell you what happened,” Jim started. 

William stood up and said, “Let’s take this into my office and get it on tape. We want a recording of this.”

Blair and Jim followed him into his office and he shut the door behind them all. 

“Okay, let me get my recorder set up…” Williams busied himself with doing exactly that while Jim just watched him like a hawk. 

Blair wondered if this man was really good, or if he was just playing a role. Blair hoped he would show them both that IA could be a good resource.

“Okay, Ellison, it’s going. Tell me what’s going on.”

Jim started telling him all about the incident and finally finished saying he was worried about them hurting Simon, Joel or Henri.

“What are their names, Jim?” 

“Rogers, Stevens, Cason, Miller and Dodge from Traffic. I don’t know their first names, but I can pick them out of a line up or from a book of pictures in an instant.”

“I’ll take care of this right away. They will be put on leave and this will be investigated. Captain Banks will eventually have to hear about it, Ellison.”

“I was hoping we could keep it quiet. I don’t want the men fired, I want them to go to a sensitivity training and they have to be tested afterwards. They have to learn that people are not all alike and that’s all right.”

“We’ll see what we can do, but it might trickle down to Major Crimes and the cat will be out of the bag.”

Jim stood up and shook the man’s hand and said, “Thank you for your help.”

Then Blair did the same, but didn’t say a word. He figured that Jim did a good job all by himself.

“I’ll call you later this week and let you know what we’ve decided to do. In the meantime, stay away from them. They sound like bad news. I’m also going to charge them with bigotry towards you and Sandburg. There is no reason that you have to put up with this shit. Don’t worry about a thing, I’ll take care of it all.”

“Thank you and have a good day,” Jim said as he left and headed towards the elevator once again. 

Once on the elevator, Blair smiled at Jim. “You’re such a good man. I can’t believe you’re doing this for them. I feel sorry for all of our friends.”

“I wish I could do more, you know?”

They got off the elevator and walked into Major Crimes, smiling. 

Jim started working on the report he had to get in to Simon before they left for dinner. He was about an hour into it when Simon opened up his door and called out, “Ellison, my office.”

Jim whispered, “Fuck…I knew they would tell him.”

Blair hoped Jim was wrong. 

Jim knocked and walked in. “Sit down, Detective. Did you honestly think that IA could open an investigation without telling me what was going on?”

“I had hoped, sir.”

“Jim, I appreciate you doing this for all of us. I just wanted to tell you that. I’m not mad, quite the opposite. You went to bat for us and we’re grateful. I’m not going to tell Henri and Joel about this, so this stays between the two of us. Okay?”

“It’s more than okay, Simon.” Jim was actually smiling for a change. 

“Now go and finish your work. We have a dinner to go to tonight.”

“Thanks, Simon.” Jim got up and started for the door. 

Simon stopped him and said, “No, thank you. And I’m sorry that you’re taking heat about you being gay.”

Jim smiled sadly and said, “That’s never going to change, but I had to defend myself, Blair and you guys. These guys have to be stopped. They’re idiots but they’re dangerous idiots.”

“See you later, Jim.”

“My report is almost done, Simon. See you soon.” 

Jim walked out of the office, knowing that things might get ugly, but they all had each other to lean on and talk to. Jim learned a great deal that day. There were bigots everywhere and for everything. Jim felt like he might need to take some training to learn all the things you should say or not say. 

As he headed to his desk, he was smiling big time, making Blair smile in return. 

Blair whispered, “It went well, I take it?”

“Yup and not to be mentioned again, okay?”

“Yes, sir.” Blair loved teasing his Sentinel. 

Jim finished up his work knowing he didn’t have to worry about those guys anymore. He had the higher-ups to do all the work. 

 

The end


End file.
